Hi Jason,
I'm just an innocent bystander! I've been a fan of the theory behind the NORMA framework (Dr. Halpin's fact based modeling, which isn't the only form of Object Role Modeling, but what we are talking about when we talk of ORM theory). I had a couple of the tools developed to utilize ORM methodology; Infomodeler which became VisioModeler, which became the basis for the Visio and Visual Studio for Enterprise Architects toolsets. I like the theory behind it, so I was happy to see a new and open source tool being developed by Dr. Halpin and others at Neumont. I'd love to have a full featured production tool as an ORM2 compliant replacement for the earlier tools, but that's not (to my understanding), the direct and immediate goal of the NORMA project. Still, the tool is improving with each iteration, and there's already quite a lot that can be done with it. The extensible framework part of the project has even more potential. So, I'm not part of the team, but enjoy getting to test out the tool, and have a chance to comment and ask questions about its development. The only stuff I work with myself is MS; SQL Server 2005, Visual Studio on MS WS2K3. Though I got into programming quite a while back, I'm not much interested in writing code. I'm more interested in information systems design issues. If there's an OO camp, and a Relational Data Model camp; I'm in the later. The OO stuff is important, but I think 'they' address IS problems with a different mindset. The thing about ORM is that some people in each camp (and some with a foot in each), can see the value in it.
BTW, if you have some general comments or questions about ORM or NORMA, try the Open Discussion Forum. If you look through that, you'll see a Yahoo Group List notice that Clifford Heath started partly as an extension to the discussions here. BRN..